Improved process of seasoning wood



diluted sismes THEODORE W. HEINEMANN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 95,47 3, dated October 5, 1869.

I MPZIROVED'PROCESS OF SEASONING- WOOD.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and makingz part of the same.

To all whom it may conce/rn;

Beit known that I, THnoDoRn-W. HEINEMANN, of New York city, New York county, in the State oi' New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Process for Seasoning Wood; and I do' hereby declare that the following is a full' and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompitnving drawings, making part of this application.

My invention relates to a new processpforseasoning wood.

Previous to my invention, numerous processes for seasoning wood have been employed, all of which, however, have invoivedthe expenditure of much time and consequent expense.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple, quick, and economic method orprocess for seasoning timber, so as to render it good for use soon after having been cut; and to these ends,

My said invention consists in extracting the sap from freshiy-cut wood, and then leaving it to dry in the natural temperature and atmosphere.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand my invention, l will proceed to more fully describe it, referring, by letters, to the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated a simple apparatus for carrying ou the process invented by me.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the apparatus, and

Figure 2 is a frontl view of the same. l

In the several figures, the same part is designated by the sameletter oi' reference. f

A is an airtight receiver or holder, (which may be made as the shell of' a cy1indricalboi1er,) provided with a door, d, at one end, adapted and arranged so as to permit the introduction into the receiver A of a charge ot' timber, and` to then be closed and fastened airtight.

B is an air-pump, connected to the said receiver A by suitable tubes C, andby means of which the air contained in the cylinder A is exhausted.

. A suitable railway may be constructed within the case A, and the green timber being placed on a truck or carriage, may be run into and confined within said cylinder.

in performing the process proposed by me, the

green timber is placed within the receiver A, when thelatter is closed up air-tight, and the air-pump being set to work, (driven by a suitable motor,) the air iny A is exhausted and the sap of .i the wood all (or nearly all) exhausted, and may be drawn ofi or discharged through a suitable ock f.

After the sap has been extracted, (which is done in a short time,) the timber is taken out and piled upto dry, in the usual common manner.

1t will be understood hat by simply extracting the sap from `the timber,l it is put in 'a condition to dry very rapidly, and that therefore, by my process, a great saving of time is effected over the old-fashioned way oi' drying the wood with the sap in.

My process, I propose to practise in connection with preparation of the green timber at the mill; and it will be seen that it is only necessary to` provide a suitable receiver of some sort, and some means (such as an air-pump) for the exhaustion of the air.

The timber may be run on trucks from the mill into the receiver, and the air-exhausting machine may beV driven by a connection with the motive-power of the mill. i

I am aware, that sap has been extracted from wood by confining it in an ain-tight chamber,and-applying an air-pump to the latter, as, for instance, in processes for seasoning and preserving wood, in which the sap is extracted and the wood then impregnated with rosin, Sto.; but I am not aware that in .lieu of the long and old way of seasoning the wood, by a simple drying-process in the air, green timber has been cured byl simply lirst exhausting the sap and then submitting the timber to the usual natural drying in the air.

I do not claim extracting the sap from wood by submitting it to. the action of an air-pump, while'conned in a chamber, vas that has been done before; but

What I do claim as a new process of seasoning,

Wood, is

Extracting the sap from the green timber, and then .submitting it to the usual and natural drying-process,

as described; I

Y THEO. W. -HEINEMANN [n s] l Witnesses:

J. MOINTIRE, T. B. BEECHER, Crus. A. Soorr. 

